Shoe protector



March 13, 1962 Filed April ll, 1960 R. G. CHRISTOPHERSON SHOE PROTECTOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 13, 1962 R. G. cHRls-roPHERsoN 3,024,544

SHOE PROTECTOR Filed April ll, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Meur/V7- United States Patent Oiice 3,024,544 Patented Mar. 13, 1962 3,024,544 SHOE PROTECTOR Raymond G. Christopherson, 884 N. Grand Ave., Orange, Calif. Filed Apr. 11, 1960, Ser. No. 21,466 4 Claims. (Cl. 36-72) This invention relates to shoe coverings of a protective nature and more particularly relates to coverings designed and intended to protect the shoes of painters, plasters, and like workers from becoming spotted and discolored.

From time to time, coverings for work shoes have appearade, but none that have come to my knowledge have been capable of giving full protection to the shoes of a persons wearing long trousers or overalls, a category Which of course includes nearly all Workmen in civilized shoe-wearing countries. Either the trousers rode up on the shoe protectors, or the shoe protectors were crushed downward by the trousers, occasioned by projections on the shoe protector upon which the trousers caught. These projections have been mostly in the nature of fasteners or bands for securing the protector to a shoe. Where a tie band passed under the lower margins of a shoe protector and under the shank of a shoe, it necessarily raised the shoe protector to the level of the shank, or even crumpled the protector, in either case exposing the lower parts of the shoe to the effects of paint or other dis'colorants.

It is an object of my invention to provide a shoe protector so constructed that it may be secured to a shoe in a manner holding it down rather than pulling or pushing it up.

' A further object of my invention is to provide a shoe protector which may enclose and protect a whole shoe, or may protect only the forward parts of a shoe.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a shoe protector which has large unbroken surfaces for the display of advertising matter, and which can be made at the cost of only a few cents, so that it is suitable as a giveaway advertising medium for paint manufacturers and others.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrative of presently preferred embodiments of my invention but not intended to be limitations thereof, FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of one embodiment of my invention, shown in relation to a shoe;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view, taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a plan View of the stamping from cloth or paper from which the shoe protector shown in FIG. l is constructed;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of another embodiment of my invention, shown in relation to a shoe;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the stampings comprising the shoe protector shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the fastening strap and attachments used with the same;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary cross-sectional View on the line 7--7 of FIG. 4, showing the instep structure;

FIG. 8 shows a modification of the instep structure shown in FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view on the line 9 9 of FIG. 4.

Having reference now to the details of the drawings, the simplest and most inexpensive form of my improved shoe protector is illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. It comprises exible side covers 10 and 11, for the right and left sides of a shoe 12 which are joined at the toe 14 as shown in FIG. 1 and in FIG. 3. Upwardly from the toe 14 one of the side covers, 11, is provided with tabs 15 which have a coating of mucilage or similar adhesive by which they may be made to adhere to the opposite side cover 10, thus forming a unified cover 16 for the instep of the shoe. From the instep both of the side covers 10 and 11 sweep downwardly and rearwardly to form skirts 17 adapted to cover the sides of the shoe. The lover margins 18 of the skirts 17 terminate approximately at the level of the sole 19 of the shoe, while the rearward portions of the skirts extend very nearly to the heel. At points near the margins 18 but above the shank 20 of the shoe the skirts 17 are punctured by holes 21, through which runs an elastic band 22. The band 22 extends over the instep cover 16, outside of the cover, and enters the skirts 17 through the holes 21 and passes under the shank 20, where its ends may be tied as shown at 23. The lower margins 1S of the skirts 17 are thus left free and unrestricted by the elastic band 22; they neither cause the shoe cover to ride up nor cause it to bulge out, either of which actions, by catching on the overalls or trousers, could cause the shoe cover to become torn or warped out of shape and of no further use.

In FIGS. 4 to 9, I have shown a modification of my shoe protector which protects also the heel of the shoe and thus is of advantage to women wearing short skirts or to men with rolled-up trousers, and which yet embodies the same advantages as those outlined in connection with the earlier-described embodiment when worn with long trousers. Flexible side covers 25 and 26 are cut from suitable material, one of them, the cover 26 for example, being provided with toe-tab 27 and instep tabs 28 by which it may be secured, as by adhesives, to the cover 25. lt is of course quite possible to have the covers 25 and 26 joined at the toe permanently, as with the covers 10 and 11, instead of being connected by the tab 27, but there is less waste of material in the cutting when they are cut individually and then joined.

One of the side covers, the side cover 25 for example, has a rearwardly extending portion 29 extending nearly to the heel of the shoe 12, and the other side cover 26 has a rearwardly extending portion 30 adapted to wrap around the heel of the shoe 12 and then to extend forward and to overlap the portion 29. The portion 30, where it passes the center line of the heel of the shoe 12, is of full height to cover the heel so that it will lie thereon snugly and present no outstanding edges upon which trousers or overalls may be caught. The further extending and overlapping portion 31 is cut down to about one half the height of portion 3G. In the underlying portion 29, at the level of the upper margin 32 of the portion 31, there is a horizontal slot 33. A paper clip 34 may be used to secure the margin 32 to the margin of the slot 33, and as the clip 34 may be placed at any point in the slot 33 and on the margin 32, this simple adjustment permits fitting the shoe protectors to shoes of a wide range of sizes.

The covers 25 and 26 extend downwardly in skirts 35 that depend to levels close to the ground so that the lower margins 36 of the skirts are about at the level of the sole of the shoe 12. Attached to the inner sides of the covers 25 and 26 so that it can pass under the shank 20 of the shoe 12 is an elastic tape 37, secured at its ends by reinforcing tabs 38 to the covers 25 and 26. It will be seen that as in the earlier described embodiment of my invention, the tape 37 does not press upon or even touch the margins 36 of the skirts 35, and so exerts no upward force upon the shoe protector to cause it to bulge outwardly.

To place either of the described shoe protectors upon a shoe, the heel is left open and the shoe is thrust into the toe of the shoe protector over the elastic 22 or 37. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4-9, the rearwardly extending end 30 is brought around the heel and the overlapping tab 31 is fastened snugly to the slot 33 by a paper clip or any other convenient fastening.

Particularly in the modified form of my improved shoe protector the entire area of toe and side covers is available for printing of advertising matter, and because of the system of fastening the shoe protector without upward pressure on the skirt margins, the area of advertising always lies smooth and unwrinkled. In both forms of my shoe protector, the fact that the dependent skirts are free and clear of the elastic band 22 or 37 permits one size of the protectors to be used on either wide shoes or narrow shoes within a very considerable range. This of course is a noteworthy advantage in reducing the cost of the shoe protectors. If tailored to individual shoe sizes, as is necessary when the skirts are confined by an elastic band, the cost of manufacture would be greatly increased, and the suitability of the shoe-protectors as advertising give-aways would be much reduced.

The disclosed embodiments are not be construed as limitations upon my invention, the scope of which is deemed to include any desirable constructive modification within the spirit and breadth of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A shoe protector comprising exible material forniing side covers for both sides of a shoe, said side covers being joined at their upper margins to form a unied cover for the toe and instep of a shoe and elastic connecting means connecting lower portions of said side covers, said side covers forming depending skirts of suicient length to extend downwardly outside of said connecting means and to cover the edges of a sole to which the protector is attached.

2. A shoe protector comprising side covers of exible sheet material for covering a shoe upper, said side covers being joined at the toe and upwardly along the instep and extending downwardly and rearwardly from said junction to form dependent skirt portions, and elastic connecting means connecting said side covers and extending from points above the shank of a shoe inside said skirt portions.

3. A shoe protector comprising exible side covers for covering the forward part of a shoe upper, said side covers being joined at the toe and upwardly from the toe to form an instep and extending downwardly and rearwardly to form skirts adapted to cover both sides of a shoe and terminating downward below the shank of a shoe so as to aord protection to the level of the sole of a shoe, and elastic connecting means extending over said instep externally to said protector and entering said skirts at points above the lower margins of said skirts so as to pass under the shank of a shoe and to leave said skirts hanging free.

4. A shoe protector comprising flexible side covers for covering the toe, sides, and heel of a shoe and having the general form of the upper of a shoe, said covers being joined together forwardly and having dependent skirt portions adapted to extend close to the ground when worn upon a shoe, one of said side covers having a rearward extension adapted to wrap around the heel of a shoe and then to extend forward to overlap the rearward end of the other of said side covers, means for temporarily securing said overlapping extension to said overlapped rearward end, and an elastic connecting strap having its ends secured to the inside surfaces of said side covers and adapted to extend under the shank of a shoe inside said skirt portions.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,053,555 Berg Feb. 18, 1913 1,110,045 Dalton Sept. 8, 1914 1,382,748 Slasor June 28, 1921 2,229,563 Greenstein Jan. 21, 1941 2,420,618 Rabinovitz May 13, 1947 2,625,752 Kemp Ian. 20, 1953 

